In the eyes of those in the know, Ignatiev can be called a young man - as an envoy of Rusya, he was born in 1832 and is only 26 years old this year. Not to mention his noble birth, his father was deeply trusted by the late Emperor Nicholas I of Lucia, and even when he was born, he was baptized by the current Emperor Alexander II.

However, as a special envoy of the Lu people, he is not without troubles:

The crushing defeat of Lucia in the Crimean War led to the loss of the prestige of the emperor and the empire, and the domestic public opinion boiled, not only the old and new factions in the court were infighting, but also the waves of civil innovation.

This is not something that can be suppressed with an iron fist alone – in the Crimean Peninsula and in the Europa Consular District, prices are skyrocketing, supplies are scarce, and even bureaucrats are struggling to survive, let alone the people; At the same time, the defeat caused the empire to have financial difficulties, and the only solution was to issue more paper money, which further pushed up inflation. Life is hard, and excessive repression can only lead to a bigger backlash.

It was under these circumstances that Ignatiev was ordered to do so, and Emperor Alexander II demanded that he "deal with the Eastern question flexibly and decisively, and re-establish the prestige of the empire in the world, in order to inspire and give confidence to the people of the empire." ”

But rhetoric was not worth it – although the Crimean War had been over for more than two years, the empire's economy and military strength were still being rebuilt, so the only support he had was eight warships, three of which were destroyed by Fuso in 1857.

Thinking of this, Ignatiev's pupils involuntarily contracted, who would have thought that since the Black Sea Fleet was completely exhausted, the empire had fallen from the position of a European naval power to such a dangerous point:

Before the Crimean War, the empire had three fleets, one large and one small, the Baltic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, and the Okhotsk Regional Fleet.

Aside from the weak fleet of the Okhotsk region, the other two fleets are very powerful and can be called the pearls of the empire.

The Black Sea Fleet once had 4 120-gun battleships, 12 84-gun battleships and 4 60-gun cruisers, as well as a large number of auxiliary warships; And in the Baltic, the empire had as many as 27 battleships alone!

However, now the Black Sea Fleet has become a thing of yesterday, the capital ships were lost in the battle, and they are still being rebuilt; And the Baltic Fleet, although the losses were not large, the proportion of steam ships was too small, and according to the experience of the war, the combat power was worrying.

The change of the Imperial Navy is underway, but due to the lack of time and the resistance of stubborn old fellows in high positions, there is no fundamental change yet.

But the root cause of slow change is the lack of money!

Thinking of this, his nails stinged Ignatiev, and he remembered the heated debate in the court before the mission:

Although he has stepped down as foreign minister, Nesherrotier, who served two terms in that position, has been in power for 36 years and has fostered countless henchmen. Thus, even if Nesherrotier, as the Privy Councillor for Foreign Affairs, did not speak, his many Germanic Foreign Ministers could still influence the situation.

"The barren Amur River basin is a burden that is difficult to defend.

Alaska has already been sold to the English, so expansion and continued investment in the Far East is undoubtedly very dangerous.

The limited treasury of the empire should give priority to the loyal people, and should not be thrown lightly at risk. ”

"I don't know the depth of the water, don't cross the river."

"The city of a thousand tops was destroyed by a small candle, the English had just gotten Alaska, and the Empire's adventures in the Far East would undoubtedly irritate the British and cause unnecessary risks."

The defeat in the Crimean War not only led to very serious financial problems, but also discouraged many ministers and nobles, who were opposed to continued expansion in the Far East, at least not in the near future.

And the previous lesson is too bad:

Muravyov was the first governor of the empire to die in battle in recent decades, and his command of Eastern Siberia, Kamchatka, and Irkutsk, according to the local bureaucrats, was already over

After returning to the state of a hundred years ago, "rebellion continued, and fishing, hunting, and grain cultivation were no longer sustainable." ”

As early as 1854, after the total destruction of the fleet of the Okhotsk district, together with the loss of a large number of merchant ships and fishing grounds, the coastal territories were in fact basically isolated.

But what is worse is that the Cossack cavalry, which was once the main force of the counterinsurgency, has now become the backbone of the rebellion, and for three years a large number of exiles have been raiding the settlements, causing the Lusian immigrants to flee the region.

What had been repressive and brutal now showed harsh results, and the rebels fought bravely and would rather die than surrender.

The 2,000 regular troops, mobilized to overcome the inconvenient transportation, were of no avail, and the newly arrived Cossack cavalry, in private collusion with their compatriots, was completely ineffective; And because of the backwardness of mobility, the infantry could not gather and destroy the rebels.

In the past three years, with the exception of Petropavlovsk, only Okhotsk and Ayan have barely restored order, and the rest of the regions have been reduced to lawlessness.

Fortunately, the harsh conditions in Eastern Siberia were treated equally, and now the rebels could not hold on, and from the spring of 1858 they either fled north or had to accept recruitment.

In 1857, under the soft policy of the newly appointed governor of Irkutsk and Eastern Siberia, Pugartin, order finally began to be restored in Eastern Siberia.

But after wars and rebellions, the original population of 100,000 is now only a few tens of thousands; Food inputs are heavily dependent on external inputs; The finances had long since collapsed, and it was all supported by St. Petersburg.

Ignatiev left Europa in October 1856, when no one could have predicted that the situation would be so serious in East Siberia after that.

Thinking of this, he smiled bitterly, "If this had been expected, the outcome of the palace meeting would have been even more unfavorable. ”

Most of the aristocracy at the time was reluctant to take risks as soon as the war had subsided, but fortunately the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gorchakov, stepped up:

"There are no roses without thorns. Besides, you can't pick up mushrooms without bending down. ”

According to Gorchakov, "since sooner or later the empire will return to the world stage, it is not necessary to find a new way in the Far East outside of Europa." After all, the opponent is much weaker than countries such as Britain and Foshan. ”

However, Gorchakov also agreed "not to provoke the English too much", so the main purpose of the mission was "to flexibly seek the space of the empire in the East."

When Ignatiev arrived in Xiangjiang in April 1857, he was delighted to find that England had begun a war with the Tang people.

Sure enough, after showing that Lucia had no intention of joining forces with the Tang people, the hostility of the British greatly decreased.

Later, under the banner of mediation, he and the Mi envoy Lie Weilian went right and left, and finally reaped a lot of benefits in the "Yarrow War" - in addition to the lack of indemnity for defeat, the benefits of the Rumi and the Treaty of Tianjin in 1858 were the same as those of Britain and Buddhism.

But the fly in the ointment is that the English still have a certain degree of vigilance against Lucia, and actually listed Miaotun at the mouth of the Amur River as one of the six major treaty ports. You know, the temple of the Tang people is the Nikolaevsk outpost of the empire, which is named after the late emperor Nicholas I!

Under his own persuasion, the British envoy Ergin still refused to let go, and even ridiculed his insatiable greed in front of Levi Lien and Francis envoy Gloss, "When they are weak, the bears in the north still do not forget to stare at other people's prey." Even after being given a certain amount of food, he still maintains his greed! ”

It is hateful, because the "North Pacific and China Sea Expedition Fleet" participated in the transportation of Kamchatka's military situation, and the Mi people, who were warned by the British, refused to openly support themselves, and the Francis completely turned to the British, and they fell into a situation of loneliness.

Seeing that the situation was not good, he had to back down at that time, and even shared the right of way in the middle and lower reaches of the Amur River - anyway, it was generous to the Tang people, and it did not harm the interests of Lucia. And the Far East is remote, presumably other countries don't have much energy to pay attention to this place, and after a long time, this place

It must fall completely into the grasp of Lucia.

Thinking of this, Ignatiev was very dissatisfied with the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Pugartin - he had already sent a letter asking Pugatin to take decisive action, taking advantage of the great opportunity of the Yarrow War to raise heavy troops to exert pressure on the Tang in the middle and lower reaches of the Amur River, so as to cooperate with his foreign affairs and make a fortune.

But Pugatin, the guy who caused the destruction of the fleet in the Okhotsk region, must have lost his precious courage in fleeing alone, and actually said, "This will inevitably cause the intervention of the Anglo-Buddhist forces!" ”

What a shame on the Empire! Compared to the previous governor Muravyov, who died in battle, this man was completely unworthy of the position of governor of the empire.

If Pugartin had known Ignatiev's thoughts, he would have scoffed at it—Muravyov had lost a large amount of gold, which the great nobles had worked so hard to obtain in Alaska. As a result, he died in battle, not to mention that his family would not be at peace afterwards, and if it were not for Emperor Alexander II's compassion for his confidants, the Muravyov family would not even be able to mourn after death.

Anyway, Pugartin was not ready to take risks, and no one could let him send troops without an explicit order from St. Petersburg! - Under the influence of the butterfly Naoxiu, the development of events in the Far East is becoming more and more strange.

Despite this, Ignatiev believed that he had completed the mission of the envoy well, and he got the agreement of the Tang people without a single soldier, which fully proved that he was skillful.

However, he never expected that he would miss in Fusang.

There are no thornless roses, but this time the flowers were not picked but they were almost stabbed in the hand - this small country that was thought to be a small country dared to resist the demands of the Empire!

But who could have known that there were people in Fusang, a closed and backward country, who knew the "Public Law of All Nations"!

Under the defense of Naohide Hori, the British and Korean ministers, who were originally partial to themselves, actually changed their attitudes.

In fact, Ignatiev also knows that the root is not here, even if the Fuso people say it well, if Ergin and Harris firmly support him, things will not change unfavorably.

But the problem was that his request for Fuso to cede the large northern island had aroused Ergin's alarm, and the British felt that Lucia was still seeking to expand in the North Pacific, which was undoubtedly inconsistent with the maritime strategy they had always adhered to, which was to close Lucia into an offshore state.

As for Harris, he also hinted that he didn't want the lion to open his mouth.

In fact, what Harris means Ignatiev understands, to put it bluntly, is not to steal his limelight:

It doesn't take a single soldier to oppress Fuso trade, and in this regard, Harris is undoubtedly the pinnacle of foreign bureaucracy. But if he occupies a large island, there is no doubt that Harris's merits will be much inferior.

But what a wrong!

In fact, the proposal to cede Oshima is just a means of its own.

The so-called sky-high asking price to repay the money on the spot, foreign affairs officials don't all do this!

However, despite his repeated explanations that the land cession was just a strategy for negotiations, the attitudes of Britain and Militus changed.

The defeat at the coordination meeting provided an excuse for the British and Mimetry envoys to reach a consensus on this issue, that is, "suppress Rucia and do not spoil the good situation today"!

Ignatiev was keenly aware of this, so he immediately applied for an adjournment, preparing to solve the problem by the traditional method of the empire - force.

The Battle of Hakodate proved that he had a precise vision, and that the Fuso army was vulnerable, and that the defeat of the previous naval army in 1857 was nothing more than carelessness.

Ignatiev firmly believes:

"As long as the Imperial Navy fights according to the regulations, victory is within reach.

After occupying the White Lord, he will return to Edo, and Fuso will inevitably grovel.

Although the cession of Oshima is difficult to achieve, it is certainly no problem for Fuso to pay a large amount of money, and this will be a perfect end to his trip to the Far East. ”